Transonic Wind Tunnel PT-1

Infrastructure
Description

CIRA Transonic Wind Tunnel PT-1 is the only Italian aerodynamic transonic wind tunnel. It is a pressurized facility, able to contribute to both industrial and research programs with an aerodynamic testing capability over the subsonic, transonic and supersonic regimes.

Due to its size, it is used mainly for research activities and for industrial purposes when aircraft parts have to be aerodynamically characterized in order to support the preliminary airplane design phases.

A list of the typical test articles is reported in the following:

  •         2D models, e.g. representative of airfoils, rotor and turbine blades sections
  •         Half-wings and half-models
  •         3D models, e.g. representative of complete vehicles configurations or of slender bodies as missiles and launchers
  •         Full scale probes
  •         Specific test set-up, e.g. dedicated to aerodynamic and aeroacoustic characterization of panels or aerodynamic protrusions, to characterization and validation of flow control devices, to the determination of laminar boundary layer sensitivity to geometry imperfections due to working tolerances.

CIRA PT-1 personnel fully support customers for wind tunnel test activity, engineering, data analysis and model definition.

Main technical characteristics

Two Test Sections dimensions (height/ width) 0.35×0.45 m²:

2D WT Models Solid and Pourous Walls with Remoted Turnatable support

3D WT Models Solid and Pourous Walls with Remoted Sting support

Reynolds number up to 27 million (Lref=1 m)

Mach number or maximum velocity 0.1 up to 1.4

Maximum mass flow 24 kg/sec

Maximum pressure 1.8 bara

 Measurement instruments

Pressure measurement: steady and unsteady;

Force & Moment Measurement;

Shock visualization by Schlieren pictures;

Transition visualization by infrared camera;

Operational Capacity

1 working shift, 5 days/week

Contact Information

​​​CIRA – Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali

Via Maiorise snc- 81043 Capua (CE) – ITALY

Tel. +390823623111

Fax +390823622024

(Italy)
EREA